By CHAN LI LEEN | Mar 14, 2010

Railway land price determined by Federal Constitution

IPOH: The Railway Asset Corporation's demand of RM37mil for a 94.5ha railway land in Kuala Sepetang, Taiping, is not determined by the Transport Ministry but is based on provisions under the Federal Constitution.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said that according to the Constitution, any piece of land whose purpose was for railway purposes must be used solely for that.

He added that in order to give up ownership of the land, certain conditions had to be met, among which, was to sell it at the current market price.

"The RM37mil price tag was not fixed by the ministry but based on the advice of the Attorney-General's chambers," he told reporters after opening the Bao En Shi Building here Sunday.

Earlier this month, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir had hit out at the corporation, a body under the ministry, for refusing to waive or reduce its price for the plot currently occupied by 643 squatter families.

Dr Zambry had argued that the price was too exorbitant, as the state was not using the land for commercial purposes but to re-gazette it for residential use before issuing individual titles to each of the families.

"I share the view of the mentri besar that we have to deliver, we have to walk the talk.

"As how he had put it very clearly in the run up to the Bukit Gantang by-election and even after Barisan Nasional's set back in the by-election, we honour our words and we need to deliver.

"The squatters will remain undisturbed and we mean business but of course, we have to cross many hurdles and clear all the constraints (before being able to solve the matter)," he said.

On his part, Ong said he had been there to facilitate the move, which initially involved a land swap but that seemed to have hit a few snags.

"Then, for one reason or another, we came to the alternative of alienating the railway reserve.

"If the state has other alternative views or wants to discuss the matter, I feel that can be done but we will need the advice of the AG's chambers.

Ong suggested that the three parties, namely the ministry, the state government and the AG's chambers, get together to go through the details.

"It's not only about the pricing but more importantly, the Federal Constitution. That is the catch," he said.